NLL Notebook: Breaking Down the Numbers

FRANCIS SUSPENSION REDUCED BY ONE GAME

Brandon Francis will be available to the Buffalo Bandits should
they make it to the NLL’s championship game the May 13-15
weekend.

The league announced Friday that arbitrator Ramona Gallagher
ruled after hearing an appeal of the four-game suspension handed
Francis for his part in a brawl at the Boston bench during an April
16 loss to the Blazers at HSBC Arena that the suspension has been
reduced to three games.

Since the Bandits did not dress Francis for their regular-season
closer last weekend against Rochester, he’ll be eligible to
return to the lineup after sitting out two more games beginning
with the East Division semifinal at home Saturday against
Boston.

BENESCH AT HIS BEST AGAINST STEALTH

Ryan Benesch is the first Minnesota player to win the NLL
scoring title and a lot of his success has been achieved against
the team the Swarm will face in a West Division semifinal
Saturday.

The fifth-year pro finished the regular season with 46 goals and
49 assists for 95 points, and he scored 13 of his goals against the
Washington Stealth. He was named player of the month for April by
the NLL on Wednesday.

Washington’s Lewis Ratcliff was second in the scoring race
with (41-51) 92 points, Rhys Duch of the Stealth (42-48) and Dan
Dawson of the Boston Blazers (31-29) tied for third with 90 each,
and John Grant Jr. of the Colorado Mammoth, who was one of the
hottest shooters during the last month, was fifth with (36-47)
83.

EXPERIENCE FACTOR MULTIPLIED

Minnesota coach Mike Lines is well aware of the need to keep the
Stealth offense from stealing the show and having an added veteran
presence in his lineup this year fills him with optimism going into
the West Division semifinal showdown in St. Paul on Saturday.

"I think the biggest difference between last year’s team
and this one is the experience we have,’’ says Lines.
"We picked up Mat Giles, who’s been there and won it before,
and a guy like Rory Smith has been to the playoffs and in the
finals. We’ve got a lot more mature team and more
playoff-ready team this season."

VINC FINISHES WITH BEST SAVE PERCENTAGE

Matt Vinc of the Rochester Knighthawks had a league-best .794
save percentage when the regular season ended last Saturday, which
could translate into a second straight selection as goaltender of
the year.

Matt Vinc comes on strong in the Rochester crease to lift the
Knighthawks to five wins in their last six games, and
Minnesota’s Ryan Benesch has a torrid finish to win the
scoring title and get selected player of the month.

Apply some reasoning: Toronto lost its last three, Buffalo was
bombed in its last two and Minnesota was only 8-8, which leaves us
with Shattler of the 11-5 Roughnecks and Vinc of the 10-6
Knighthawks.

Flip a coin.

COACH OF THE YEAR CANDIDATES

The winner has to come from one of the four teams that finished
above .500: Calgary, 11-5, and Buffalo, Toronto and Rochester, all
10-6.

Dave Pym of the Roughnecks watched stars Josh Sanderson, Tracey
Kelusky and Jeff Moleski traded away as Brad Banister dumped salary
before the season began and then heard his owner-GM announce the
team might not be able to pay its bills through 16 games which
meant it might fold, but the ‘Necks were No. 1 anyway.

Buffalo coach Darris Kilgour watched his Bandits get bombed in
their last two to kiss away a shot at first overall and Toronto
coach Troy Cordingley saw his Rock fall flat in its last three,
while Rochester coach Mike Hasen guided his Knighthawks to five
wins in their last six.

Pym or Hasen, it says here.

MOST ACCURATE SHOOTER

Minnesota’s Tyler Hass had the best shooting percentage,
61.5 per cent, after scoring eight goals on 13 shots.
Washington’s Mike Grimes was second with 11 goals on 22
shots.

GRANT GETS OFF MOST SHOTS

Colorado’s John Grant Jr. took the most shots, 271, with
Washington’s Lewis Ratcliff next with 230 and Calgary’s
Dane Dobbie third with 213.

SNIDERS BEST AT FACEOFFS

Geoff Snider of the Roughnecks won 70 per cent of the faceoffs
he took, winning a league-best 235. Kid brother Bob Snider of the
Stealth won 226 with a 71 per cent success rate.

GEOFF SNIDER MOST PENALIZED

Geoff Snider was the most penalized player in the NLL with 74
minutes assessed. Buffalo’s Brandon Francis was next with 70
and Colorado’s Mac Allen followed with 55.

McBRIDE RETURNS TO CALGARY LINEUP

Roughnecks captain Andrew McBride will be back in the lineup for
the West Division semifinal against the visiting Colorado Mammoth
on Saturday after missing three games since suffering a leg injury
during a 15-12 home win over Minnesota on April 1.